RAY: Sanaa weekly, 8-9-98. [Archives:1998/37/Press Review]

archive
September 14 1998

(League of Sons of Yemen – Rabita)
Main Headline:
1- Bomb explosions rock 5 governorates: Sanaa, Aden, Dhamar, Abyan, and Dhali’. Stringent security measures are taken.
2- Yemen-Saudi committee demarcating sea borders held closed sessions. Compensations to the families of the 3 Yemeni soldiers killed during the Saudi attack on the Island of Dowaima were probably discussed.
3- Main clauses of Local Authority Law have been endorsed by the committee entrusted with formulating it.
4- A number of Iraqis living in Yemen have been arrested for forging Yemeni passports.
5- Draft laws regulating public demonstrations, carrying firearms, and local authority were struck off parliament’s agenda for this term.
6- Lightening struck 2 houses in Abyan, killed 7 people and injured 2.
Article Summary:
Mareb Dam in Danger
Funded by Sheikh Zayed of the UAE, the Mareb Dam was inaugurated in December, 1986. More than 40 million cubic meters of silt has accumulated in the lake behind the dam over the last few years, according to experts’ estimates. This poses a real danger to the structure of the dam. As the bottom of the lake rises, water level and hence pressure increase on the upper, thinner part of the dam wall. This was probably the reason that led to the destruction of the original Mareb dam in ancient times.
Weeds and wild shrubs have grown out of the dam’s body, further weakening its structure. Several flood gates are not functioning properly, some of them are used for target practice by local tribesmen. Two main canals leading away from the dam were destroyed by flash floods, and never repaired.
Although the General Authority for the Development of Eastern Regions received a $3 million loan from the World Bank to address flood damages, nothing has been done to repair the damage sustained by the Mareb Dam.

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